The Girl Who Cried Wolf
by TheFandomMenace1
Summary: "Don't give me that angsty 'The road is my home' bullcrap. You were happy here... *I* was happy." Yuffie tries to convince Cloud to stay in Wutai just a little longer...


"I'm sorry, Yufi-chan," Cloud said, turning away from her. "I have to go."

It made her blood boil, for two reasons: First, he was being obstinate. More so than usual. Second, he hadn't called her that in years. It made her feel like a child again. She stamped her foot on the ground, kicking up dust as she did; a petulant, almost involuntary gesture.

_"Mou!"_ she replied, her anger causing her to revert to her native tongue for a moment. Even though Cloud had been around long enough to pick up the basics of the language, they rarely spoke to one another in Wutaian. "Enough, already. What's gotten into you?"

"It's time," he replied simply.

Their argument in the crowded market square had started to draw attention. The locals were accustomed to seeing Godo's daughter squabbling with other people, to be sure, but seeing her engaged in what appeared to be a lover's spat out in public was quite a different story. But neither of them paid their onlookers any mind.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that angsty 'The road is my home' bullcrap, Cloud," she shot back. "You were happy here." She paused for a moment, her anger giving way to sadness. "..._I_ was happy."

"Why?" he shrugged.

She couldn't tell whether or not he was being dense on purpose, and wondered how he could be so callous after everything they'd been through together. Not just their struggles against Shinra and Sephiroth, but what they had experienced together in the past few weeks.

He'd wandered through the gates of the Wutaian capital, then the temple grounds, and finally hovered around the Kisaragi Manor, looking lost as ever. She'd invited him to spend the night, and something in her told her to try and detain him for his own good. And so she had done, inventing new reasons for him to extend his visit, one day at a time, convincing him to remain in Wutai for just a little longer. And a little longer, still.

It wasn't long before they found themselves standing hand in hand at the silver pavilion at night, watching the fireworks reflecting off the lake. Then, witnessing the same reflection coloring each other's eyes as he leaned down, brushing his lips against hers. The rest of the evening had been spent in a pleasant haze, and before she knew it he was following her upstairs, mesmerized, as she shyly led him toward her bedchambers...

But now he was leaving Wutai again, as quickly as he'd appeared, with no real explanation. Her hands balled up into fists as she turned away from him, casting her gaze to the ground, cheeks flushed. "Don't make me say it, dummy."

Cloud turned back towards her, looking apologetic, even wistful, yet determined to leave. He appeared as though he were about to offer some reply or justification for disappearing again like this, before deciding against it.

"You'll come back, at least," she said quietly, without looking up. "Won't you?"

"I'm sorry, Yuffie," he said. "I can't promise you that."

He took a few steps over to where she stood, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sure our paths will cross again some day."

She fought back the tears, refusing to look up at him. He caught her chin in his hand, gently tilting her face upward, closer to his. "After all... I never could stay away from my favorite princess, could I?"

**Author's Notes**

Just a quick story today. Had this one scenario in my head, and found it irresistible. There's something about Yuffie's tsundere nature that really appeals to me, especially when it's coupled with Cloud's aloofness and reluctance to open up to others. The two elements just seem to play off each other perfectly. I feel kind of bad about separating the two here, seeing as how they're two of my favorite characters from this story. For those of you worrying about the whole "will they or won't they", I'm sure they'll get back together later on. Some day.


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